Posted on 05/18/2023 7:39:18 PM PDT by lightman
More than 140 United Methodist Church congregations in the Susquehanna Conference, including 14 in the Harrisburg area, plan to end their affiliations with the denomination under agreements approved by the conference Wednesday night.
Among those churches are 14 in the Harrisburg district and 43 in the York district. The seven-district Susquehanna Conference includes 870 churches, almost 150,000 members and close to 580 pastors.
Nationally, simmering disagreements over the 6.4 million-member church’s position on ordaining and marrying members of the LGBTQ community, as well as other issues, have caused a rift fueling the “disaffiliations” by more moderate and conservative churches.
Marriage is still defined by the church as being between a man and a woman. The church bans its clergy from performing “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions” and its churches from hosting such events, a stance that has become increasingly controversial for many parishioners.
Churches that are disaffiliating have until Dec. 31 to completely cut ties with the United Methodist Church after fulfilling financial obligations. Many congregations that have left the Church are joining the more traditional Global Methodist Church, which opposes ordaining or marrying LGBTQ people.
PennLive was unable on Thursday to reach anyone from the disaffiliating churches in the Harrisburg district.
Over the past four years, 1,831 congregations across the country have voted to sever their ties with the church, or about 6% of the 30,000 United Methodist congregations nationwide, according to ChristianityToday.com.
A summary of the meeting was posted on the Susquehanna Conference’s website.
“At the start of the session, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball acknowledged the difficulty of the evening,” the summary noted. “‘Tonight, this work is not easy,’ she said. ‘And we recognize that we will look differently when everything is over. Yet, in the midst of disaffiliation, God is present and God is faithful.’”
The summary said that “worship was an integral part of this session and each vote was preceded with prayer. Each prayer leader acknowledged the heaviness of the moment, while still giving praise and thanks to God.”
In an email to PennLive, Liz Lennox, the director of communications ministry for the Susquehanna Conference, outlined the financial responsibilities of the churches that are disaffiliating:
Churches owe the Susquehanna Conference just 1% of their assessed property value even though the conference owns all of the church’s assets under the trust clause.
Churches must fulfill their fair-share obligations to the United Methodist Church pension fund for retired clergy.
Churches must pay outstanding apportionments for the calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022, apportionments for 2023 and an additional 12-month apportionment.
Churches must also pay unpaid debts to the Susquehanna Conference, clergy compensation through June 2023 and $1,000 in legal fees.
Once the churches meet the terms of their settlements, they will no longer be considered part of the United Methodist Church, Lennox said.
Therefore:
Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
The August 19 date refers solely to the adoption of the gaysbian agenda, NOT to the “Full Communion” agreement.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Those Methodians and Presbyters are likely to burn with the Episcopals.
What is surprising is not that 16% are leaving, but that 84% are staying.
BTTT
Are the Catholics designated to oversee this and finally will it be a public burning? Inquiring minds and all of that.
PTL for Churches that stand for the one true Gospel.
The Peninsula Conference comprising the eastern shore of MD/Del/Va will see substantial disaffiliation at the annual conference the first week of June.
They are not. Fully half are in process of disaffiliation. the conference has made this process as painful and difficult as possible. Lawsuits against the denomination for failure to observe the Discipline of the church will be in the works beginning this fall.
It's worth a listen if you want to know the dirty history and how the Progressives took over the church.
The full list (copied from a pdf):
ALTOONA
Asbury Harrisonville Barnitz Bethel Hill Bedford Baughman Memorial Bethany Berwick Bedford ForgeCommunity New CumberlandBrowns CocolamusCalvary BellwoodHalifaxBuffalo Valley Ebenezer Harrisonville Mt Gilead Dressler’s Ridge Good Shepherd Tyrone Mt Holly Springs Emmanuel New Berlin Hicks Memorial Duncansville Mt Zion Carlisle Evansville Second Ave Altoona Shermans Dale Fairmount Springs Siloam Harrisonville Snyders First Nanticoke Tatesville Trinity New Cumberland Hummels Warrior’s Mark Trinity New Kingstown McKendree Shickshinny Williamsburg Waggoners Oakdale Youngs Mechanicsburg Paxtonville Youngs Shermans Dale Rohrsburg St Peters Beavertown Trinity Danville Trinity Winfield Turkey Valley
SCRANTON, WILKES-BARRE, & STATE COLLEGE
Abrahamsville Arch Rock Community Church Great Bend East Salem East Ararat Fairview Morrisdale First Jermyn Faith East Waterford Hop Bottom Locust Run Kingsley McElhatten Meshoppan Morrisdale Montdale Otterbein East Salem North Jackson Palestine Susquehanna Summit Hill Thompson
Thompsontown Throop
YORK& WILLIAMSPORT Aldersgate York Springvale St Pauls Antes Fort Bethany Dover Spry Austin Bethany York Starview Austinburg Bethlehem Dallastown St Pauls Red Lion Bethel Loyalsock Bethlehem Stonepile Wesley Chapel Rouzerville Brookefield Calvary Dillsburg York Springs Centennial Centenary Biglerville Zion Freysville Duboistown Chapel Church Zion Red Lion East Smithfield Chestnut Grove Ebenezer East Point Christ Jacobus First Williamsport Christ Yorkana Franklin Fairview Emmanuel Windsor Genese Fairmount Heilman Fawn Keating Summitt First Greencast leLeona First Hanover Liberty Corners Grace Hanover Luthers MillsGrace Uriah Maple Springs Grace Shrewsbury Middle Ridge Idaville Mill Creek Loyalsock McKendree Airville Oriole Messiah York Oval Mt Airy Dillsburg Pine Creek Valley Mt Carmel Pine WesleyMt Nebo St. Pauls Nauvoo Mt Victory Third Street Mt Zion Glen Rock Ulysses Orrtanna United Church of Nelson Otterbein Fayetteville WarrensvillePleasurevilleWestfieldProspectRouzervilleSaginaw CommunitySalem MartinsvilleScotland
“Marriage is still defined by the [United Methodist] church as being between a man and a woman.”
Total B.S. Despite what a sect’s “official” doctrine says, a church’s true doctrine is what is allowed in its midst with impunity. No minister is EVER held to account by performing these deranged “weddings” or celebrating all things “gay.”
“What is surprising is not that 16% are leaving, but that 84% are staying.”
The UMC church bureaucracy has made it very difficult and expensive to leave. Numerous churches simply can’t afford the payments required by the UMC to leave. Other congregations, where progressives control the governing board and the minister is committed to the liberal view, the members are denied the opportunity to vote. A number of liberal congregation boards in my area have announced something to the effect, “After prayerful consideration we have determined the future of the congregation lies with United Methodist Church.” Once liberals control any organization, true democracy is not tolerated.
Years ago the church bureaucracy seized title to the buildings and property of local churches even though the property was acquired by, and is maintained by, the local congregation. Congregations must buy the property and pay other heavy fees to the UMC in order to leave. Plus the payments are lump sum, not stretched over time. This is an ugly divorce in which the progressives, who are the ones changing church doctrine, write the rules and exact a heavy price from those who want to hold on to traditional beliefs and doctrine.
The UMC is spiritually bankrupt. Pews are occupied with by a declining number of seniors who continue to attend out of loyalty and inertia. Despite the liberalization of doctrine and teaching, progressive young people are not joining the church in sufficient numbers to replace elderly members dying. Individual churches eventually close, when the congregation lacks enough members to support it financially. When an individual congregation closes, the self perpetuating church bureaucracy sells off or develops the property. After the divorce the death spiral will accelerate as traditionalists in congregations aligned with the liberal UMC leave to find a church that supports traditional doctrine, or they will worship at home.
Another once great American institution destroyed by progressives.
What they seldom mention is that these departing churches are often the larger ones, on the order of several magnitudes. Many are considered mega-churches.
Once again, the major religious divide of the present isn’t traditional denomination lines, it’s Sodomy versus non-Sodomy.
Interesting to me how the three county MAGA Trump country York District accounts for 40% of the total departing congregations. Four large “flagships” among them: Aldersgate, Messiah, Yorkanna, and St. Paul, Red Lion.
In the long-gone days of the Evangelical Association (the “E” of EUB) St. Paul was the national “cathedral” where the General Conferences were held.
Not a very hard decision...
Good news.
I was a member of the American Family Assoc. for a couple decades (still would be if they hadn’t messed up when I moved). Being founded by a Methodist pastor, he had lots of articles in the ‘90s about how apostate the UM church was going. women pastors, LGBTQ events, etc. it was biased of course but my impression evermore is UM was on the forefront of this ridiculous and disgusting apostasy.
Nice to see many are breaking off.
I’d hope that happens with more churches. I don’t even fully trust our MO Synod Lutheran churches.
Kind of like the Constitution.
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.